Heavy loadings of sulfate aerosol trigger haze formation and pose great damage to human health in Taiwan Island. Nevertheless, high-resolution spatiotemporal variation of ambient sulfate across Taiwan Island still remained unknown because of the scarce monitoring sites. Thus, we developed a novel ensemble model named extreme gradient boosting coupled with geographically and temporally weighted regression (XGBoost-GTWR) to predict the high-resolution sulfate concentration (0.05°) based on satellite data, assimilated meteorology, and the output of chemical transport models (CTMs). https://www.selleckchem.com/products/avitinib-ac0010.html The result suggested that XGBoost-GTWR model outperformed other five models in predicting the sulfate concentration with the highest R2 value (R2 = 0.58) and the lowest relative mean square error (RMSE = 1.96 μg/m3). Besides, the transferability of the XGBoost-GTWR model was also validated based on the ground-level sulfate data in 2019. The result suggested that the R2 value of the extrapolation equation (0.53) did not show notable delution and epidemiological studies.This study aimed to analyze the relationship between cardiac autonomic modulation (CAM) and cardiovascular parameters (blood pressure and resting heart rate) in a sample of 256 adults, grouped by body mass index and sufficient moderate-to-vigorous physical activity (?150 min/week). The sample showed different cardiovascular parameters and CAM according to body mass index, but not according to physical activity. Adults who are overweight and physically active presented higher relationship between CAM and blood pressure than those who are insufficiently active, similarly to normal weight groups. Recommended levels of physical activity may play an important role in the relationship of HRV with cardiovascular parameters in overweight adults, regardless of sex, age, socioeconomic level, and central fat. Trial registration Registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03986879). Graphical abstract.To assess the body composition (BC) of patients with granulomatosis with polyangiitis (GPA) compared to healthy controls, emphasizing visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and associated BC parameters with disease activity, the damage index, and inflammatory parameters in patients with GPA.
This study was conducted in 43 patients with GPA and 43 healthy controls matched by sex, age, and body mass index (BMI). BC was analyzed using dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The fat mass parameters evaluated were total fat mass (FM), adiposity (%), the fat mass index (FMI fat mass/ht), and VAT (g, cm, cm). Disease activity was assessed by the Birmingham Vasculitis Activity Score (BVAS). Damage was assessed by the Vasculitis Damage Index (VDI). C-reactive protein (CRP) and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) were measured.
Comparing patients with GPA with healthy controls, patients had a significantly greater VAT (VAT in g 685.81 ± 306.10 vs. 581.21 ± 235.57, p = 0.04; VAT in cm142.23 ± 63.48 vs. 119.84athology.
Patients with GPA have altered BC compared to healthy controls. Moreover, higher VAT was associated with disease activity and higher inflammatory markers, suggesting a relationship between GPA activity and adiposity parameters. Key points ? Granulomatosis with polyangiitis patients have increased visceral adipose tissue when compared to health controls; ? Granulomatosis with polyangiitis patients with higher values of visceral adipose tissue have worse disease activity and higher inflammatory markers; ? This paper represents important contribution to the well-studied association between vasculitis and inflammatory markers, adding the role of adipose visceral tissue in the disease physiopathology.We investigated factors predicting the addition of disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDs) after an initial methotrexate (MTX) monotherapy in rheumatoid arthritis (RA) patients to support an early decision on the DMARDs addition.
This retrospective cohort study included 311 patients who were diagnosed with RA and started on MTX monotherapy at Showa University Hospital, Japan. The outcome was addition of DMARDs after an initial MTX monotherapy at 6 months. Baseline patient characteristics were compared between the DMARDs addition and MTX monotherapy continuation groups, and significant independent predictive factors for the addition of DMARDs were selected using multivariate analysis.
The median age of patients was 62 years (range 24-90), 170 patients (73%) were women, the median swollen 28-joint count (SJC28) was 3 (0-28), and the median tender 28-joint count (TJC28) was 5 (0-28). DMARDs were added in 65 (27.9%) patients. In the univariate analysis, higher TJC28 and SJC28, concomitant use of nonstion of DMARDs of initiating MTX monotherapy at 6 months. ・The use of such indicators may support an early decision on the addition of DMARDs after the initial MTX monotherapy.
A higher SJC28 and intra-articular GC injection history may be useful predictors of DMARDs addition after the initial MTX monotherapy. We expect that using these predictors will enable an earlier shift to a more aggressive treatment. Key Points ・We performed a retrospective cohort study with the addition of DMARDs as the outcome in patients with RA who were started on MTX monotherapy. ・A higher SJC28 (OR 1.390; 95% CI, 1.036-1.866) and an intra-articular GC injection history (OR 3.678; 95% CI, 1.170-11.557) may be useful predictors for the addition of DMARDs of initiating MTX monotherapy at 6 months. ・The use of such indicators may support an early decision on the addition of DMARDs after the initial MTX monotherapy.The dynamics of biological capsules and red blood cells in shear flows has been studied extensively with experimental, analytical, and numerical methods. In particular, the effects of various parameters, including the shear rate or shear stress, membrane elasticity, capsule shape, and interior fluid viscosity, have been investigated carefully. The role of the membrane viscosity for capsule deformation dynamics has not been examined adequately. In previous studies, the so-called energy dissipation ratio has been used to account for the membrane viscosity effect by increasing the interior viscosity; however, the applicability and accuracy of this treatment have not been evaluated carefully.
In this study, using the recently developed finite-difference scheme for immersed boundary simulations of viscoelastic membranes, we conduct comprehensive numerical simulations of the deformation processes of an originally spherical capsule in shear flows with various combinations of membrane and interior fluid viscosities.